About the bill
Should e-cigarettes be taxed at the same rate as traditional cigarettes?
Context
In recent years, vaping and e-cigarettes have skyrocketed in popularity, particularly among young people — reversing what had previously been a decades-long decline in youth smoking rates. 27% of high school seniors, 22% of high school sophomores, and 21% of college students have reported vaping in the previous month.
To combat this, more states are taxing the products. 17 states plus the District of Columbia now have taxes specifically on vaping products, with a full half of those states implementing those taxes in 2019.
What the bill does
The Protecting American Lungs Act would tax vaping products, such as vape pens or e-cigarettes, at the same federal tax rate as traditional cigarettes.
It was introduced in …
Sponsor and status
116th Congress (2019–2021)
This bill was introduced on October 23, 2019, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
1 Cosponsor (1 Republican)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Suozzis Bipartisan Vaping Bill to Advance through Ways and Means”
—
Rep. Thomas Suozzi [D-NY3, 2017-2022]
(Sponsor)
on Oct 21, 2019
“Larson Votes for Legislation to Address Youth Vaping”
—
Rep. John Larson [D-CT1]
on Oct 23, 2019
History
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Oct 18, 2019
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Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. |
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Oct 23, 2019
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Ordered Reported
A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee. |
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Feb 21, 2020
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Reported by House Committee on Ways and Means
A committee issued a report on the bill, which often provides helpful explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill's intentions. |
H.R. 4742 (116th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 4742. This is the one from the 116th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 116th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2019 to Jan 3, 2021. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
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“H.R. 4742 — 116th Congress: Protecting American Lungs Act of 2019.” www.GovTrack.us. 2019. September 28, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr4742>
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GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
